HP and the Fourth Traveler
by Aries The Ram
Summary: The Trio is tracked down by someone wanting to help during the hunt for Horcruxes, what will this mean? And is there such a thing as a "Fourth Wheel"?
1. Ending one Search, Trading for Another

**HP and the Fourth Traveler (working title)**

Disclaimer: I do not own the HP universe; I do not want to, I just like playing around.

Summary! A stranger has come to the forest looking for the trio, he has been hired to figure out exactly what they are doing and see if he can help.

You will find NO Gary Stu here…while I will unashamedly tell you that this fic was born with the "What would happen if someone fairly like me were to be thrown into the mix during DH?"Idea. And this character does resemble me, even has my first name, he will not be favored any more than a main character should be. If I am so unwilling to give him my own flaws then I will give him new flaws. I'll tell you right now this isn't a Godlike!OC story if that's what your worried about, just treat this character with the same trust you would give to any new character that Rowling would introduce mid-book.

If you're looking for slash in the story, this will not be your cup of tea because by Harry&OC I mean that the OC develops a strong friendship with Harry, nothing more. It will be on the OC's POV for the most part but will probably have chapters or sections of chapter devoted towards other characters.

Canon Pairings can go to hell during this story, so don't expect any H/G or R/Hr rubbish.

_**Chapter 1: Following Sonar**_

"_How can these Brits handle this kind of cold?"_ he thought while trudging through the snow, it was an agonizingly slow process and the small device in his palm only brightened its light every few minutes to show the general direction he needed to go. His sigh was clearly shown by the cloud of fog coming out of his mouth and he winced trying not to have his teeth chatter. A quick warming charm did little to alleviate the bitter cold and the ominous feeling that his toes might get frostbite soon. His feet sunk into the snow a good foot to the ground and made a horrible crunching noise that reminded him to cast a _silencio_ on his feet before going on.

He wouldn't have very much sunlight left for the day and tonight promised to be grueling if he didn't pace himself more.

He needed to make camp, he hadn't tried to do it outside of a village in a few days and he wasn't particularly looking forward to the nighttime temperature. Looking around for signs of non-magicals or wildlife before casting a few privacy spells. Bringing out his tent he charmed it to set up and anchor itself into the ground, he dropped his rucksack and put the palm device back into his pocket, it wouldn't be much use until he started the search again.

With a quick _tempus_ he learned the date was November 4th, he grimaced at the thought of what December would feel like. Starting a fire was no easy feat with _incendio_ continuing to be nearly useless anywhere near the snow. Only once he was inside could he attempt a powerful burst to combust the wood he found, and even then he nearly set the tent of fire. He tried to remember the blue-bell flame spell that was taught during freshman year, however it was to no avail, and the incantation was unconnected to its Latin description.

Nostalgia proved to be a decent way to ignore the cold, thinking back to his school years. Fortunately they hadn't been tampered with too much so the memories were fairly fresh, apparently unlike his school the one in that most of the people in this country went to was a boarding school, Hogwarts was fairly famous in North America as well but the exclusive nature of the school made it more of a myth than reality to some.

There was no war being fought inside American borders so in peacetime the education was at its best; there was always the threat of terrorists or some fanatical pure-blood group but nothing on the scale that this Voldemort fellow seemed to be.

The first time he was told to pack up and get ready to go "across the pond" he was floored. Certainly the situation in Europe was not that bad? But apparently everyone here was incompetent, or in the least too complacent to fight a war. The Department of Magic was constantly being paranoid about attacks and defense so groups like this were likely never to leave the ground, much less gain any sort of popularity with large demographics.

Nevertheless, he had been sent to this frozen hellhole on assignment, a solo mission as well. He had planned on asking about that but by the time they shooed him out of the building and given him an international portkey he was already alone in the middle of Bristol attempting to figure out how the tools in his goody bag worked.

So far he knew what three out of five were for; he had a tracking device similar to non-magical sonar except with the frequency of general magical energy being tracked. The tent of course that shrunk and turned life-size with a single thought. Three rooms in all, a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom, he thanked his supervisor for the bathroom every few hours. The third was a nifty little gadget, reminded him of a flashlight, it was a pocket _lumos_ made to float above the user's head or another designated area near his body and shine a three hundred and sixty degree light.

So far it had come in pretty handy at nights, at least allowed him to read in peace without having to nearly burn his tent down with candles and stray flame spells. The two he hadn't figured out were interesting; one was a glove that vaguely reminded him of a condor trainer's glove while the last was a pair of modern glasses that so far had done nothing out of the ordinary.

The only other items he knew were on hand were the things in his tent and what he supposed was a family dagger. He would search his trunk to see if he thought ahead to bring anything useful on this trip.

Dinner was a quiet affair, with soup being the main meal with a can of non-magical soda to top it off. It had been a pain to get any sort of money exchange when he was dropped off, he had been given a care package as a send off and then had to wire the rest from bank to bank with his written down passwords and account numbers, most of which were very new. It wasn't a lot, but it would keep him fed and warm for many months to come and his salary was still being paid, since officially he was still on duty.

Sleep came without much fuss, nightmares were docile and tame compared to some of the more distressing ones he had recently. He was blessed enough to wake up in the morning not remembering what he dreamt of, if a bit worse for wear. A cup of coffee and a chapter of "British Centaurs and why they are Dangerous" and he was ready to pack up.

With speed that only came from instinctual experience he magically packed everything within a few minutes, he heard the wildlife teeming in the morning, even if the cold was still a little bit frigid. Birds were singing and some deer tracks could be found and it was altogether a relaxing way to start the day.

He wondered briefly if he should be more on alert for Death Eaters, but surmised that if they could accidently find their way through his privacy wards without him realizing he would gladly let them curse him for his own stupidity.

He had always been the quiet but cautious type, relaxed on the outside but always careful in the back of his mind. It had garnered him a reputation as a fairly skilled duelist back in America, he was no master but he was not afraid of guerilla warfare here in the middle of the forest.

Heaving his rucksack over his shoulder he pulled out the palm device. A soft blue glow pulsed out from it and a shining yellow dot was shown due east, something magical was in the area. Anxiety welled up in his chest, after nearly two months of searching he may have found them, it may have been a pipedream but there was little reason for anything magical to be this far into the forest. Creatures were not searched for by the device except when specified, and he doubted that any magical beasts would be found here anyway if he tried.

Walking briskly with renewed silencing charms on his feet and camouflage spells he honed in on the direction of the light of his device. He put it in his pocket when the light grew bright enough to be recognized, even if some sort of weird fog was in the area. He wondered if Dementors could possibly be this far off, if they were even close to a village they would have swarmed the place and used it as a breeding ground, the main worry is if dealing with one would be any different than his past dealings with a Lethifold.

He felt a tug on his senses and the device was telling him they were within thirty feet, but he saw nothing around. Out of morbid curiosity he took out the glasses and put them on, nearly laughing himself silly when he saw what was in front of him.

Clumsily flittering around a large tent were three individuals, maybe a year or so younger than himself and quickly casting charms that would make nobody aware they had ever been there in the first place. It was an impressive setup, though it looked like the girl…Hermione was the one doing most of the spellcasting while Potter and Weasley did the grunt work.

They all looked just like the British Ministry described, though Hermione looked a good deal more attractive than a "brown haired mudblood with white skin and dirty eyes." The bigotry was annoying and he wondered how these people could claim to be a world power being so backwards. Though to his amusement Harry did look an awful lot like a "scrawny black haired fugitive with eyes the color of the Killing Curse."

Harry looked frail, in fact all of them looked underfed and he wondered just how much they had been eating during this camping trip from hell. He had been searching for them and following their magical signatures and could never quite catch up until now, they were getting slower and weaker, not a good sign.

Wondering if he should really introduce himself and scare them to death and probably get cursed in the process, he thought _"Oh what the hell, fortune favors the brave! Or something like that."_ and walked right inside their wardline. Unfortunately the glasses had not alerted him to the amazingly simple alarm ward that made some sort of siren as soon as he crossed over the wards.

He dove to the ground as multiple curses raced over his head and he disillusioned himself holding his hands over his head. "I mean peace!" was the official surrender phrase of all employees of the Department of Magic, hopefully it would mean something more than "blow my bloody head off!" to them.

"Identify yourself!" Hermione said, keeping her wand pointed directly at his chest, she was brave for someone shaking so much. Potter and Weasley had their wands up as well but looked a good deal less threatening considering they were nearly dead on their feet.

"Ally." It was a lame response and he knew it, but dramatics were too entertaining to pass up, besides, she wouldn't be fast enough to curse him if she tried…he hoped.

"Not good enough, are you a Death Eater?" Potter snarled, quite the temper on him.

"Would I have aimlessly walked over that wardline if I was a Death Eater?"

Whatever he thought the answer was going to be it wasn't what Hermione said.

"Maybe, they have a tendency to be pretty thick."

He couldn't help it, he laughed while the three younger magicals warily held their wands up in the most threatening manner possible. He continued to laugh and threw his wand at Weasley, hoping he wouldn't snap the poor thing in half.

He walked up the Hermione with his hands up above his head until he got close enough to nearly be touching her wand and held out his hand for shaking.

"Zane Maze at your service."

_And the first chapter is finished! Please tell me what you think; though to be honest I'll likely continue it for fun anyway, I'm sure someone out there will get some fun out of this with me. Review would be nice, but don't feel pressured, since I know I sometimes don't either._

_This chapter is terribly short, it honestly annoys me to no end that I have "He, His and Him" scattered all over the chapter but I was adamant and not letting you know his name until the very end of the chapter. The next one is already finished (though unedited) and I am starting the third as you read this, and both chapters will be at LEAST twice this length (excluding A/N's if you believe it, this chapter is the only chapter that will have this large a A/N.)_

_Chapter 3 will be out fairly soon, Siphoner is being slowly developed into something worth reading so hold tight for that._


	2. The Breakfast Club

**HP and the Fourth Traveler**

_Anyone who is reading this may thank InkheartFirebringer for bringing this story into the light again, via a message that this awesome reviewer sent to me, I began reading and working on this story again. Again, thank you Ink, let's hope the story won't disappoint._

_Disclaimer: I do not own the HP Universe or the idea of the "Department of Magic" both of these are the intellectual property of individuals I cannot claim to be._

_Apparently I made it sound like this story won't have romance according to my "No Cannon pairings" rant. There will be romance, I hinted heavily with my writing on both the last chapter and this chapter what the main pairing will be, but all the "important" characters will indeed have someone in the end._

_**Chapter 2: The Breakfast Club**_

The trio stood staring at the outstretched hand for what seemed like hours to them, but only a few moments in Zane's perspective. Hermione took note of his appearance; he had dark brown hair that lightly curled at the end, his hair long enough to nearly reach his eyes. The eyes were dark chocolate, a near mirror of her own and almost black behind the glasses he wore. His skin tone was lightly tanned, with it being paler due most likely from the horrible lack of sunlight Britain loved to bestow upon its citizens. He was taller than Harry but a little shorter than Ron and had a gaunt look that betrayed his strength.

Zane fidgeted nervously at how his entrance was being taken, his hand staying mid-aid resolute and still with confidence that seemed to be contradicted in his eyes. Eventually Hermione lowered her wand to her pocket and shook his hand with a hesitant falter. "Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter and he's Ron Weasley." With each word her voice strengthened, though clearly still tensed. Harry nodded politely and shook his hand while Ron glared holes into his brain from a few feet away.

"Well I know who you are, undesirables all of you, except for Ron here who I was **told** would be with his family. Surveillance must be pretty dodgy if they can't tell you're gone. The famous Harry Potter and his band of merry…man and woman. Glad to finally catch up with you."

Zane rubbed his hands together trying to gain back the warmth he lost, and then held out his hand for his wand. Ron wasn't getting the message and Harry simply shook his head and motioned for Hermione and Ron go back to work.

"Not until we know more about you, why have you been following us?" Harry said, the other two continued packing their equipment while obviously still keeping a good deal of attention on Zane, it was entirely too entertaining. A frown settled on his face though at the loss of his wand, though far from useless without it, not having it in his possession was a somewhat foreign experience.

Looking back up to Potter, Zane grinned. "Would you at least have the courtesy to cast a warming charm? I'm freezing my fingers off here." The warmth that spread over him a moment later wasn't quite enough to get rid of the tingling feeling in his limbs but there was no longer an uncontrollable need to shiver violently.

Potter seemed to be impatiently waiting for something, before Zane caught on.

"I was following you because that's my job; I've been searching for you three for awhile now to see if I could help. The Department sent a good dozen people to roam the country looking for you, though before you ask I have no idea where they are now."

Harry blinked a few times, the others stood stiff for a few moments before continuing their work. Something he said hadn't struck the right chord apparently.

"You mean the Ministry? Voldemort took over from what we heard." Hermione said from the background, her voice stiff with forced calm.

"Nah, the Ministry as far as we know is ruled under Voldemort, I came via international portkey across the pond from The Department of Magic, your American counterpart."

Awkward silence befell the area, Zane was looking around at the setup and figured now would be a good time to take off the glasses that were starting to give him a headache. There was only so long you could look at an aura of bright orange and nearly blinding violet before your eyes start stinging.

He put them back in his rucksack and took out the palm device, letting the metal disk pulse brightly signifying his proximity to so much magic. There wasn't anything else in the area thankfully, so they had a few minutes of quiet. Only when he was done did he notice that he wasn't exactly making the group comfortable grabbing random objects from his sack.

"What's that?" Hermione said after finishing the packing, her curiosity overriding her anxiety. Harry and Ron simply shared a knowing glance and waited for the answer.

"Magical Sonar, I don't know how the enchantments were done but it directs me to any magical signatures in the area other than my own, its normally meant for hunting magical creatures but somehow this one was set for mages in mind. Don't worry about it though; I'm just making sure we're the only ones here." He said before pocketing it.

"Is there any way to shield your signature from being detected?" She asked, clearly interested as she was sub-consciously stepping closer to Zane, the boys looked nervous.

"Can't be sure, we could do some testing but I imagine it would still detect the magic of someone even if we couldn't see them ourselves. Hypothetically they might use non-magical camouflage but from what I hear I can't see the Death Eaters doing that." He took the palm device or the Sonar as he was lazily starting to call it.

He handed it to a beaming Hermione for her to inspect, if she could dissect the enchantments on it good for her. The Department had many people working on research for that thing. He also wasn't opposed to earning trust points with this gesture. He briefly wondered if knowing that the act gained trust, but also knowing you would do it anyway was in anyway misleading or dishonest.

"Why is America interested in Europe's dealings? They have normally been pretty solitary in most of these Dark Lord risings." Hermione said while gently…caressing the Sonar.

Zane nodded to her, "Normally we would be, but Voldemort is gaining too much power now and your Ministry practically fell over, France refuses to be helpful and Germany is dealing with its own outbreaks of dark magic. So it was either us or the Swedes who were going to help and I assure you they have been very hesitant about doing anything."

Hermione nodded, handing the Sonar back to him before walking towards Harry and Ron, Zane felt wholly left out.

"Should we trust him?" she said after casting a quick _muffliato_ to the utterly affronted glare of Zane.

"I don't know, on one hand he makes some sense but it would be easy to tell anyone a story like that. We have no veritaserum and none of us can sift through his mind." Harry said, facing away from the new arrival to prevent lip reading.

"I don't like him, he's a shifty bloke and he's probably a spy of some sort, trying to feed information to You-Know-Who." Both Harry and Hermione rolled their eyes, Ron was being belligerent and refused to say Voldemort's name.

Zane, who could not hear the conversation, couldn't recognize the spell used either and wondered if they could still hear anything outside the field.

"Hey! I've got some credentials if it'd make you feel better!" he yelled, all three of them looked up and then went back to their silent conversation. This wasn't going as well as he had planned, but he applauded them anyway for at least not instantly letting him in, and holding his wand hostage was pretty smart.

"Let's give him a chance, he's got the right accent for an American and we have his wand anyway." Hermione said, chewing her bottom lip, attempting to think through all the pros and cons.

"Well what do you suggest we do about this Hermione, we can't just let him come along, and we still have to get the Horcruxes."

Ron of course did not think it useful to face away from the "stranger" so Zane mouthed to himself "What the hell are Whorekrucksez?" he would have felt guilty about using the redhead to eavesdrop but the training he went through was specifically for recon half the time, gaining intelligence was what he knew and the habits sometimes became passive.

Hermione looked to still be thinking things through but Harry was ready to leave, and though he originally wanted to keep it just the three of them, if they could find some reliable help it would be fantastic, they weren't exactly making tons of progress quickly anyway.

"We're taking him, he's been following us so he has to at least know how to take care of himself and we could use an extra wand. We can decide what to tell him later but for now the company would be nice."

Hermione nodded and Ron grudgingly held his hands up in surrender before the privacy spell was deactivated and they walked towards a grinning Zane.

"First, I want to know what you were supposed to do once you actually found us." Harry said, keeping his wand at his side, the unsaid threat looming over their heads.

Zane stayed relaxed, this was a step in the right direction.  
"Figure out what you're doing out here in the middle of nowhere and see if I could possibly help. We know about the prophesy, though what exactly it says is a mystery and if your intended to be a contender in this war then you're the person I intend to help."

"You have your own sleeping equipment?" Hermione asked, watching Ron as he was being far too silent during this conversation to mean anything good.

"Yeah, I've got my own stuff and I've got some food as well, next time you plan on being near a village we could do some shopping."

Ron perked up at the thought of food and shopping **for** food, and nodded to himself.  
"Well as long as you keep to yourself and we don't have to worry about you killing us in our sleep."

Zane smiled; at least he wouldn't have to keep trying to track them down all the time.

"Well we're heading out, you have everything you need?" Harry asked, motioning for Hermione to finish off the rest of the wardlines.

"Sure do, are we staying anywhere this cold again?" the thought alone made him shiver, and the warming charm was going to wear off pretty soon, he needed his wand.

"Afraid so, we're staying around in the forest in different spots to stay hidden, we're coming up with our next move before we head off to anywhere different." Hermione continued, staying clear of any words that would hint at what exactly they were doing, Harry hadn't specified what they were going to be telling him yet.

"Very well, are you Apparating?" Zane asked, the queasy feeling he always got when he got shoved through a tube in the forefront of his mind.

"Yes, we have predetermined spots we go to after every few days. You can side along if you want." Hermione explained, she did not even finish saying it before two pops could be heard…they left her alone, those berks!

"Well I don't have much of a choice do I, you mind?" he wasn't exactly opposed to the idea of side-along travel with a pretty girl and frowned as Harry and Ron left, chivalry must be dead here.

"N-no, it's fine. Just hold on tight and I'll lead us." She muttered, clearly looking uncomfortable with the situation. Zane frowned further, he was no Adonis but he didn't think he was some ugly he-devil in these parts; maybe it was just nervousness about side along travel as not many people he knew could pull it off perfectly. It promised to be a bumpy ride.

She quickly took hold of his arm and immediately he felt like he was being sucked into some vortex, soon that feeling left and then sensation of being thrust through a too-small tube hit him and he nearly vomited, would vomit stay with him or "splinch" back to the clearing? Just when he thought the ordeal would end he felt like someone was slamming him up against a wall multiple times and then got thrown to the ground a few feet from Hermione.

_Just where the hell had her mind been wandering during that?_

Spitting out the snow in his mouth and groaning in pain he looked up to see both Harry and Ron laughing their selves silly, Zane imagined he might find it funny too if it didn't hurt so damn much.

Hermione looked properly embarrassed by the entire ordeal, however she was not anywhere near as battered as he had been during the trip, she helped him up and Zane clenched his jaw and kept himself from throwing up.

"I'm so sorry Zane! I didn't mean to! I promise you next time it won't be that way!" Hermione wailed, nearly hysterical.

Zane was still collecting his bearings and trying to keep the forest from spinning around him when he heard her voice, taking pleasure in knowing that at least it wasn't intention…and did she say "next time"?

"No problem…just a little dizzy, set up the wards before we get caught while I'm still putting together the six of you." He said, finally falling over and sitting down while his head swayed.

The boys went straight to work while Hermione fretfully watched Zane, not even knowing him for more than a few minutes and she had mucked up apparition. Setting up the tent went quickly and the trio looked at Zane who still gathered his bearings and sifted through his rucksack.

The morning breeze swept through the area and made the cold a little more biting, Hermione cast the bluebell flame spell around herself and Zane snapped his head up quickly saying "Thank you! I've been racking my head on that incantation for days now." Hermione smiled back and attempted to keep the blush from appearing on her face. "Of course, I'll show it to you when you have your wand again." He simply nodded and went back to messing around with his sack.

Ron had given her Zane's wand in case the "shifty bloke" made a mad rush and tried to get it back. Zane seemed completely relaxed without his wand, he wouldn't cautiously look around for threats or act jumpily when someone said something, he just stayed the same as if losing his wand was no more an inconvenience than losing a sock and it boggled her mind in a way most things could never achieve.

She watched as he took out a small piece of cloth out of his rucksack and threw it to the wind, letting it fly and then grow into a fully functional tent with the anchors latching onto the ground as it dropped. _Convenient_.

He set up the tent inside the wardlines that were being cast to make sure he was still with the group, and she watched as he took out a leather glove from the sack and put it on almost experimentally, he clutched the air with it and moved his hand around waiting for something to happen before putting the glasses back on and doing the very same. She surmised that it might be more of his gadgets that he brought along, she had heard that America used more enchanted objects than wand magic but it seemed so weird to have all of these tools that do the same thing as your wand.

She decided to go into their tent and ask a few questions before she spoke to Zane some more, she was highly interested in American magic and how it might help them on their hunt.

The tent was warm and cozy this early in the morning, at night it would normally be quite cold but now it felt comfortable as a small fire was going on in a pit they made specifically for indoor fires. The rooms were fairly spartan, with little to no furniture. Rugs and blankets instead covered the floor and the cots were what served as bedrooms.

The kitchen remained unused as the few appliances they had could not be used for berries and mushrooms, if they had meat she could probably cook it but the wildlife seemed very hesitant to let them within a few meters. The bathroom was medium sized and held enchanted sinks and a toilet, but no shower. She ached for a decent shower and might ask Zane if his tent had one, but lately they had all been desperate to just stay relatively clean. Harry and Ron were sitting near the fire actually reading, though Ron as usual was reading something Quidditch related, though it seemed to be something about psychological warfare on the Pitch.

Harry sat reading "Dark Curses and their Counters." It was a good book and she had certainly enjoyed reading it, it held a good deal of information on mild dark curses and ways to detect dark magic. She was growing fond of the children's books that Dumbledore had given them, it seemed unproductive but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something in there that Dumbledore wanted them to know.

"How's he feeling now? It looked like you sent him for quite the ride." Harry spoke up, failing to hide his smirk behind the book. Hermione frowned before shaking her head, smiling again.

"He's fine now, set up his tent and was messing around with some of the things in his rucksack, I still can't figure out why he hasn't asked for his wand back yet." She said, leaning against her cot and pulling the sheet around her for extra warmth.

"He's a Yank, we don't know how important their wands are to them, I'd like to think it's not because he is an incompetent fighter though. We don't need dead weight on this trip." Harry continued, lazily flicking through the pages of the near encyclopedic tome.

"I still think he's shifty, he could have a spare wand like those hit-wizards we heard about, he could be a fugitive and on the run too." Ron added.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Didn't he say he has credentials? and if he was a fugitive then why would he stay with the most wanted criminals this side of Europe?"

Harry snorted, "Anyone can say they have credentials Hermione, until he shows them I won't know if he's actually hired by the Americans, but it's pretty obvious that he doesn't mean harm to us yet."

"Yet being the main word there." Ron ended.

"Well we can't always be so suspicious, if we are then how will we ever be able to take help when it's given?" she continued.

Harry put down his book and rubbed his temples, "I'm not saying we can't keep him, I'm saying that I still won't trust him any farther than I can throw him, and he's a big bloke!"

Hermione shrugged, "Just because he isn't as malnourished as our sorry selves doesn't make him big, we're all scrawny from the lack of food and you heard him, he has some."

Ron nodded, "Yeah, we haven't had a proper breakfast, so I say we see just what kind of food he has."

Hermione scowled, "We just had breakfast."

Ron looked affronted, "I said a** proper** breakfast."

_Should I take that as an insult?_

Zane would be hard pressed to think of anything bad to say about his accommodations, the Department made sure that he would at least be comfortable during this ordeal, with a homey living room with a small fireplace constantly roaring and a couch settled in the middle of the room as a separator with soft brown and green color covering the walls. The kitchen was further down behind the couch and seemed meticulously cleaned, or more…sterile than it should be, he never quite felt comfortable with the charms put on the appliances that made him feel like he wasn't even living there. Nothing spectacular, a fridge, an oven and some pantries was all he needed. A table was nearby that could seat…_Huh…_four or five people and down something that could loosely be called a hallway was a bathroom with everything he could ask for. If the Department took anything seriously, it was efficiency and clean working space, the very thought of working back at the cubicles of grey and walls of white was enough to make him shudder.

The couch served as sleeping quarters, and while he wasn't sure, Zane assumed he had asked for it that way before being shipped off. He'd never quite been comfortable with the idea of being in room **not** adjacent to the front door, so the couch could fold out.

Zane busied himself by playing around with a quaffle; he missed the sport dearly and wondered if he would ever play it again. With the wind in his hair, the speed, the freedom to fly wherever you wanted inside the pitch, even if he didn't miss bludgers. This was how he was found in his tent by Ron barging in like he owned the place, with a scowl as he saw the quaffle in mid air.

Zane calmly caught it before throwing it to its bin in the corner of the room.

"May I help you?" the smug tone was not missed at all by Harry and Hermione as they also came in, though at a more sedate pace.

"What kind of food d'ya got?" Ron said impatiently.

Hermione hit him in the ribs with her elbow saying "What he means is, have you had breakfast yet this morning Zane?"

"Yeah, but I've got plenty of canned soup if you're hungry. I'm pretty low on soda though, but I guess you three can have the last of it." He replied.

Ron was nearly tapping his foot on the floor, "Well, where is it?"

Zane mentally laughed at what a hungry one they had.

"Hold on a sec, I'll get some, does it matter what kind?"

Hermione beat him to the punch, "No Zane, it doesn't. **Thank you very much**, isn't that right Ronald?"

A mumbled thanks is what he got for the trouble and Zane left for the kitchen with a smirk on his face.

They seemed like a good group, this depressing camping trip was taking its toll on them but he could see that deep down they were still teenagers, just like he still was. It was sad how war could do this to a person, dull the personality, make someone so jaded that they become someone else completely. Zane would always believe that people constantly evolve, but there came a point where war turned all paths of personality and brought them into one branch.

Those who were brought into the branch became paranoid, cautious, worrisome, melancholy and morbid. They would take a sick pleasure in the dread they experienced and memories would become the only happiness they could experience.

He was glad every day that his time here had not changed him that much, he could sense that somehow he had become different but if he were to go back to America now he could still be recognized. Would these people have the same luxury? Would Ron Weasley's parents recognize his personality? Or Hermione Granger's parents see the same muggle-born they sent off when she came back war ravaged and tired? Would Harry's…_Oh…wait, poor guy._

It was unsaid, but part of Zane knew that he was here to keep that from happening, this was not a "win the war at all costs" mission, because if Europe became too unsettling than the other countries would intervene, no this was a "protect them at all costs" mission. He would protect them, both physically and emotionally any way he could.

With those morbid thoughts…_ironic…_he brought out a few bowls of cold soup and the last of the Pepsi, which most likely would be missed for a very long time. He let them cast their own warming charms on the soup and then watched as they ravenously ate the broth and meat; they had gone on far too long without any real sustenance.

He wondered why they couldn't get food themselves with money, but most likely showing their faces anywhere near British mages would be asking for trouble and the Goblins were notoriously rude to undesirables, they were "bad for business".

Zane buried his head into his book on British Centaurs and let the group remain silent, or as silent as it could be with a low fire and Ron's slurping noises. He supposed he would need to take a visit to the Centaurs soon, maybe get a general feel for how things are going to go, hopefully get a clear reading on how the land is taking all of this dark magic.

He was getting readings himself, but he was not able to apprentice with anyone so his skills were somewhat meager in the more complex ways to read the land. Maybe the Centaurs could help him?

"This place is really nice, I like the colors, is it supposed to be themed for the forest?" Hermione asked abruptly, and Zane found himself shocked that she finished her soup first.

"Yeah actually, I've always felt more comfortable with these colors." He replied, and he could have sworn he heard something like "Slithrin" coming from the gulping redhead, what was his problem?

"Thank you for the soup Zane, it's been too long since we had this much food to go around." Hermione said quietly, as if she felt it was her fault they were undesirables.

"Don't worry about it, you needed food and I had it, I've got some non-magical British money around and I can shop for more when we all need to shop. For now I can't leave you all alone."

Harry looked suspicious at that, and eagerly voiced it. "Why can't you leave us alone?"

Zane smiled, "Can't guarantee that you won't up and leave me now can I? For all I know you've been nice for my food all this time."

Ron nodded, "Read me like a book." Hermione kicked him in the shin from her seat and Harry chuckled at the abuse that Hermione seemed to have no problem dishing out.

"Do you know what we're here for?" Harry asked intently, the lighthearted talk apparently finished.

Zane put down his book, wondering when he'd ever get past that third chapter.  
"No, I only know that you are circling the forest intent on planning for something, or trying to research something." He figured he'd omit the part about those Whorekruck things.

Harry nodded, "You understand if we can't tell you exactly what we're looking for right?" his tone betrayed his anxiety, Zane wondered if they honestly thought he would leave them so quickly after finding them.

"Of course, it probably doesn't matter if I know or not, but I assure you my Occlumency shields are superb, though I believe the term you would use for my Legillimency skills is 'rubbish.'"

They all stared at him shocked, Zane shifted nervously unsure of what he said wrong.

"You know Occlumency?" Hermione asked, Harry looked to be nearly choking on his own apprehension while Ron looked more suspicious than usual.

Zane's eyebrows rose, "Yeah…it was curriculum for my sophomore year and required to pass my senior year in Dallas. If Homeland Security wanted information from me they could always rip through my shields with multiple legilimens but aside from that anything you put in my head is going to be relatively safe."

Harry looked to his friends for their opinions, Hermione nodded but Ron shook his head obstinately. Harry sighed and finished "We'll think about it Zane, but until then would you be alright if we need to do what we're doing without you for most of the day?"

Zane wasn't sure that there was an "option two" so he nodded, "Sure thing, I've been alone on this hunt for awhile so I think I can handle it some more. Feel free to come by though, and preferably not just for food."

It wasn't as though he really expected them to let him in with open arms, but to be ousted like that after searching made his stomach knot. The chuckles from Harry and Hermione lessened the impact however and he understood that he would at least be allowed to stay.

The three of them stood, though Hermione was more hesitant to rise and Harry with Ron left with quiet goodbyes. Hermione hesitated when they left, seemed to think something through with an amazing amount of concentration for her eyebrows to nearly fuse and turned to him asking "Are you really here to help us?"

It seemed like such a simple question, and one she should know he could easily lie about, but the pure concern and honesty in the tone of her voice made him realize that she might very well believe him when he told her.

"Yeah, I'm here to help." He told her truthfully, he couldn't imagine not helping them after seeing the state they were in.

Hermione nodded to herself and gave a small smile, reaching into her jacket pocket she took out his wand and gave it to him. Zane was too shocked to ask why and Hermione was too nervous to ask herself why either and left the tent in a nervous hurry.

_A/N Awesome! Got through chapter two, and a pretty good wordcount as well. Thoughts and opinion s would be welcome, but flame at your own risk, I flame back. Don't know when the next chapter will be up, but it shouldn't TOO long. Keep a look out!_


	3. Fourth Wheel anyone?

_Because I've simply forgotten to do so before, it should be mentioned that __**bold**__ is for emphasizing within either thoughts or speech, while erm…italics are used for direct thoughts. And while it may be confusing for some, spells cast are also in italic, while mentioning of spells is not._

_I do not own the HP universe, and saying I own someone who is molded after myself is a little...creepy so I won't claim to own Zane right now either. Rowling owns the universe, and I will not contest it for fear of my legal and financial life._

_I currently have no beta so logically all the errors in this story are mine and mine alone, I try to work through them and will edit chapters periodically but its still a pain so if anyones interested that would be great. If you find errors, PM or review and I'll make sure to get rid of them._

_And now for your relative enjoyment, the third chapter!_

**HEY!**

_Hmm_

**Chapter 3: Is there such a thing as a "fourth wheel?"**

The wand in his hand seemed to be a stark reminder that honesty and kindness could go a long way during first impressions. That it was Hermione herself who gave his wand back to him so soon spoke volumes of what she thought of him. It was odd though, he wasn't at all expecting to be let in so abruptly…but it seemed she saw what she needed to when asking that last question. Sighing softly he put the wand in his holster…wondering just why it was that the trio had none of their own. He couldn't fathom how people could be so nonchalant about having a weapon that literally manipulated energy of the cosmos in the back pocket of your pants. Surely someone had told them they could lose a cheek or two that way?

_Not that I should be talking, only a lecture from International War-Hero Alastor Moody was able to stop me from keeping mine in my…front pocket. Lord knows I could have lost something much more important than a cheek with that placement._

The group reeked of no training, they were school dropouts and it showed too. The wards on the camp were basic, and any curse-breaker worth their galleons would be able to crack them in moments. Zane couldn't really blame them though; it wasn't their fault they were being shoved into this situation. Prophesies could ruin so many lives, the thought that your entire existence could be altered by a few medieval sentences boggles the mind. Even the "wooly" subject was studied back in Dallas, though only for those who showed a modicum of natural talent…it became very clear for those who didn't that tea leaves were not going to show the future.

Fiddling with the so-called magical glove seemed to be useless, for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it could possibly do. No detection or diagnostic spells rendered any useful information and the aura reader glasses-as he was learning to call them-seemed to show nothing as well. Still, a second try couldn't hurt. Again nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary with the glove and Zane truly started wondering if it was just something personal of his that he could no longer remember.

It was a frustrating experience if he chose to dwell on it, the removal of so many of his memories. But it was part of the job description; he couldn't be allowed any knowledge that could be used by Dark Legilimens to discover his purpose, how important he 'might' be, and his loved ones. He couldn't remember his parents, or any siblings, and anyone who thought "Maze" was his real last name was far too gullible. Ethics courses had been taken to better comfort him when it came to memory displacement, telling him that they wouldn't take away skills, or tweak his personality. After all, if they did that they might as well have cast the imperious and dropped him off to do whatever they pleased. Still, not remembering much of his life except for vague memories of recon training and Quidditch matches was a bit of an irritant, there were no 'happy' memories to call on since most anything personal was taken away. So he was left alone, no idea whether or not he actually had any family to speak of, or if he had volunteered for this mission because he was a hopeless orphan who was expendable. The only feeling he got was that he had a nice childhood, but hell that could have been planted to make him feel better.

Stretching his neck to work out the kinks from reading and studying that useless glove made him look towards his hallway, which in turn made him nearly choke on his spit, there in the middle of the hallway was a glowing patch of the wall. It figured that he wouldn't even get to be privy to the exact specifics of what was actually in his own home-away-from-home, but maybe it might be something useful. Pulling himself up and walking quickly to the wall he palmed the surface where he could still see the violet glow and hissed when a burning sensation enveloped his hand.

What looked to be a labyrinth of lines spread from the original square as the entire hallway lit up in violet and orange aura waves. Zane had to rip off the glasses before he was blinded and his jaw dropped as the hallway seemed to blur and morph into a metallic surface that had a door on each side, one in front of him and another behind. "Well I'll be dipped." He whispered before attempting to open the door in front of him, groaning when it wouldn't budge.

_Figures, doors in my home that I can't even open._

The second one fortunately wasn't locked, but what was in it almost made him wish it was. The formerly unknown room was filled with books lined against what looked to be a rotating cabinet, an ornate desk covered in writing tools and several objects he just couldn't recognize to his left while in the other direction stood another rotating cabinet with weapons instead of books. And finally some sort of pedestal stood in the very center of the room, terribly normal looking and yet easily holding his interest.

Zane was wondering if it would be prudent to be cautious in his own home while his legs forced him to keep walking towards the pedestal, hoping for nothing akin to Indiana Jones he touched the pedestal on a small obscure rune engraved onto the stone. Immediately there was a reaction, the stone lit up eerily and within a moment a small figure appeared on top of the pedestal.

"Agent Maze, what is the name of your father?"

For a split second, he was tempted to snottily say "Mr. Maze" however it didn't quite seem like now was the time to joke. Bitterness flowed through him however when he couldn't come up with another answer.

"I wouldn't know, my past was stripped away from me."

The figure clapped its miniature hands, "Good, voice recognition and correct answer achieved. Block removal operation activate!" as soon as the last word was uttered the small figure disappeared and before Zane had any chance to move a white spell seemed to leap from the pedestal, pushing him out of the room and slamming the door shut while the hallway morphed into its normal appearance. A headache of massive proportions was taking hold of him and the urge to vomit all over his carpet was immense, and he verbalized one thought before finally blacking out.

_What have they done to me?_

* * *

Within moments of leaving their new ally's tent, Hermione was met with odd stares from her two best friends.

"What took you so long? The whole point of that was to make a dramatic exit." Ron said explained slowly. Harry looked to him confused for a moment before shrugging.

"And what business is it of yours what I was doing? I wanted to talk to him for a few seconds before storming off, especially since he had just let us eat some of his food!" she returned heatedly.

This brought several changes in the boy's facial expressions, Harry seemed to grin and raise his eyebrows while Ron went several shades of red before spluttering out incoherencies.

"Defensive aren't we Hermione? It wasn't an interrogation." Harry smirked, turning around and continuing back to their tent, without needing to see her reaction to know she was blushing. She seemed to realize that there wasn't a good counter to that and huffed before catching up with him. Ron was the last to realize that the conversation was over and scowled at his friends. "Why are you two so calm about this, he's a total stranger! I've never known you two to trust someone this quickly."

Harry didn't bother to reply until they had already gone into their own tent, knowing the privacy charms would be better for this talk. He sighed before nearly crashing onto his cot with a warm feeling from actually being fed nearly making him succumb to sleep. Rubbing his temples, and grumbling about headaches he turned back to his redheaded friend who still hadn't felt the need to relax in his own home.

"It's not about trust yet Ron, we don't have to trust him completely for him to be a friend, I'm not going to expect him to be enveloped into our trio but I can at least give him the benefit of the doubt for right now. He's independent, has no tracking charms that I could detect, and seems like a generally nice guy. So lets please leave it at that and take it a day at a time."

Ron was about to continue when Hermione beat him at it, "You checked for tracking charms?" Harry had closed his eyes until this point, but sat up and looked surprised at his only female friend. "And you didn't? Of course I did Hermione, I wasn't going to let him wander around and get us caught. Either he didn't have any when he came here, or he took them off himself. Both would be a good sign."

Harry watched Hermione look for something to say, and smiled again as she failed miserably. If anything he was thinking that this situation was making them feel better than they had in months. Things were going downhill fast as it seemed impossible to find any new ways to track the little pieces of Tom's soul that were somewhere out there. And even if they found them, they still couldn't destroy the one they had! That damnable locket had been raising tension between the trio for ages, amplifying the depression and dread that seemed to follow them around the forest. If he hadn't known better he would swear on his magic that the Dementors seemed to be tracking them down better than the Ministry ever could.

Taking turns wearing the locket didn't seem to be helping either; whoever wore it would be prone to fits of random anger and would likely be held in depression. They had decided to keep it hidden for the night because it gave the wearer ridiculously traumatic nightmares but sooner or later someone would mention the need to wear it again…Harry really hoped he wouldn't be the one forced to suggest it. Still, with this Maze guy appearing things seemed to be going up, if only because he seemed to serve as an escape, something to think about besides the mission they were on and someone new to talk to before they ended up murdering each other in their sleep.

Harry was taken out of this train of thought with someone snapping their fingers in his face; he swatted the hand away to find Ron standing over him with a highly annoyed expression on his face. "Where'd you go? You just zoned out in the middle of the conversation."

_There was more to that conversation?_

"What are we talking about then?"

Hermione groaned from her side of the tent while Ron sat back down on his cot. "Even if he doesn't have tracking charms, we have to stay suspicious, I feel like the only one who wants to play it safe here. C'mon Harry, I need you on this, it's obvious that Hermione isn't going to be agreeing with me anytime soon."

It was Harry's turn to groan, knowing what that comment would bring. Hermione threw a pillow from her side all the way to Ron's head. "Oi! And what is that supposed to mean Ronald?"

"What do you think it means Hermy? You know what I'm talking about, right Harry?"

"I told you not to call me that Ron! You're butchering my name!" she yelled.

Harry shook his head, now grinning at the two of them. He never realized how much he missed smiling…"I'm not getting in the middle of this. I have no opinion either way."

Ron snorted, "Traitor, but fine we can talk about something else. Have you made any progress on finding something to destroy the locket Hermione?"

She shook her head sadly, "No, nothing in Dumbledore's books suggests anything that destroys them, at least besides basilisk venom and it's far too expensive to get on our own. It seems that he was just cataloguing his theories on what they were and how they worked before he…died."

Harry grunted, "Yes, well he wasn't really much for time-management now was he? He spent an entire year showing me memories that could have been packed into a fortnight." Harry dared either of them with his eyes to object, Ron looked confused while Hermione was frowning.

"I've always considered him to be the protector of Hogwarts I suppose, the person who kept the Wizarding world together… But many of the things that have happened to us suggest that he was planning something else besides…this, and that plan somehow fell through. I can't imagine any other reason why roaming around searching for bits of a madman's soul would be part of some genius plan." She said, biting out the last words.

"What are you two talking about; he was the leader of the Order! He was the reason we won the first War! He's saved us more times than I can count! He was the most powerful Light Wizard around; you can't just start questioning him after he's dead!" Ron yelled, though Harry was confused as to why he was getting angry, considering for a moment that his mentor was human, and not Merlin incarnate was realistic, not insulting.

"He was a man Ron, he grew up just like us, more or less. We can't assume he was perfect or that he didn't make mistakes…we're too old to keep thinking that way. Is this really the product of some master plan Ron? Does it look like what we're doing is the sum of years and years of planning? And for the record, **I **won us the first War, not Dumbledore." Harry said tiredly.

Ron stood from his cot and walked towards the fireplace, facing away from both of his friends.

"I've noticed, lately it's seemed like there's absolutely no plan that's gone into this, we're just running around getting nothing done! We might as well be idle while our friends are all killed." he said, nearly whispering it, but both Harry and Hermione heard it clear enough for it to hurt.

"Ron!" Hermione gasped.

"It's true and you know it Hermione! We've been out here for months doing nothing but sitting on our bloody thumbs waiting for something to fall in our lap, this isn't going to work. We're just teenagers for Merlin's sake! How can we be expected to take down…him." He continued, now scowling at Hermione.

Harry got off his cot as well and got in Ron's face…or a few inches below it.

"Grow some balls Ron, we've been hunting him and his soul bits down for months now and you still can't even say his name? At least call him Tom, he's no more perfect or godlike than Dumbledore, just because he's become insane and willing to kill does not make him invincible!"

"Oh yeah? Well apparently the Horcruxes are doing a damn fine job of it!" Ron counters, Hermione seemed to be watching the fight with widened eyes, unmoving and Harry could have sworn…curious? Did she really want him to answer this also? Were they ganging up on him now?

"Yes, because it shows how impossible a man is to kill when a fourteen year old can't do it with a bloody disarming spell, and surrounded with minions who are scared he'll piss on them and light them on fire!" he screamed, hoping that the privacy spells would hold up…Harry wasn't really willing to risk their new arrival to overhear this and leave seeing how divided they seemed...

"Even Dumbledore couldn't beat him at the Ministry Harry!" Ron was showing that even Molly Weasley could be beaten in volume; Harry could only remember Ginny ever screaming this loud at him after the breakup…that was not a fun train ride back.

"Yes, because being more than a century old and running a **school** really prepares someone for dueling competent Dark Lords! For Merlin's sake Ron Dumbledore was old, and Voldemort has a practically brand new body, who do you **think** is going to win? Frankly I'm surprised that Dumbledore held him off, and that's Tom's bloody fault for trying to duel a man and possess me nearly at the same time!" _Why are you not helping me Hermione? You're always so willing to put in your two cents otherwise._

"How can you say these things? It's Dumbledore's orders that we're doing this! Are you telling me I could be back at home eating and playing Quidditch right now? I could be safe and sound and even at Hogwarts!" most of the screaming was abating, but the venom in the words was not lessening by any degree. Hermione looked shocked that he was talking about heading home, and Harry couldn't blame her. She obliviated her parents to protect them from this mission, saying she could have avoided that must be like a huge slap in the face…then again if she agreed with him. _Damn it, when did it become necessary to question whether or not my friends were on my side?_

"Ronald! We're not here because Dumbledore ordered us to; we're here because we want and **need** to be. Harry is predicted to fight Voldemort to the death, and I for one refused to allow him to attempt to do so on his own. I **thought** that was why you were here as well." The coldness of her voice negated any and all worries Harry had about where his female friend stood, and he was amazingly touched that she was willing to do so much to help him…

Harry sighed, wondering just what was happening here…"Sure Ron, you could go home right now if you wanted to…but you're an undesirable already, and Hogwarts is run by **Snape** of all people, is that what you want to go home to? What would your family say if you actually told them what you left behind, or would you ever tell them? Would you tell them that we died in the forest and you were the only survivor? Or maybe you'd just hide at home pretending to have that flu while the entire nation falls apart at the seams around you. Is that what you want Ron?"

Harry could hear the words coming out of his mouth, but he couldn't stop them…he knew they were harsh but some admittedly large part of him needed Ron to get it through his skull that this was no picnic, that no matter where they were, what they did…no place would be completely safe, not for them anymore.

Ron was looking murderous by this point, Hermione nearly crying, but something caught Harry's eyes in the firelight…something Ron was wearing…_Bloody hell_...

Harry nearly tore off Ron's jumper to find what he was looking for and when the warm metallic feel of the locket met his fingers he pushed Ron towards the wall harder than he'd needed to. "Damn it Ron, just why are you wearing the locket, now of all times? We're not supposed to be wearing until at least noon!"

Ron wiped off his chest as if Harry had contaminated it and sniffed haughtily, "Well of course I'm wearing it, we've got some stranger here and I wanted to make sure he wouldn't steal it!"

Hermione at this point walked up to the redhead and smacked him over the head, "Steal it? He doesn't even know about it! Its no wonder your such a prat right now! Give it to me!"

"No! It needs to be protected, **I **need to protect it!" Ron looked like he would have backed away if not for the fact that he was already against the wall, his eyes were darting between his two friends at an alarmingly fast rate and his hands were twitching.

"I swear Ronald if we're going to have some sort of Lord of the Rings thing going on here and you turn into Kreature I'm going to hex you into oblivion!" Hermione yelled, Harry for the all his willpower couldn't keep out the quick laugh at the reference, he'll never forget her giving that series to him for Christmas…

"What?" Ron seemed to lose his anger for confusion for a moment.

"Give the locket to me now!" Hermione screamed, so forcefully that Harry couldn't imagine himself not giving it to her if he was in his friend's place.

With a little…or a lot of help the locket was removed from Ron's neck and he immediately seemed less tense, they **really** needed to get rid of that thing.

"Hey guys…I think I'm going to get some air, ya know?" Ron said wearily, looking nearly broken with grief over the way he acted. It was as if all the fire in his eyes had just been snuffed out, leaving an empty glossed over blue in its place.

"Yeah, no problem, we'll hold the fort." Harry said putting the locket in his trunk…nobody needed to be wearing that right now.

Ron walked towards the tent flat before looking back saying "Hey Harry…you know…I didn't mean-"

"I know Ron, don't worry, just get that air." Harry quickly said, not really knowing if he believed it himself, but knowing Ron would need the words.

Hermione was clearly on edge still and waited until Ron had already left to say "Do you think he meant it all?"

Harry snorted, "Which part?"

"About us not having a plan, that he thinks he could be at home right now. Should we worry about him…leaving?" she looked pained to even suggest that their friend would do such a thing, but Harry knew by experience that even if he had told his friends he didn't mean anything by what he said while he wore it…it didn't create feelings out of thin air.

"I don't know Hermione, we can keep a watch on him for this sort of thing, keep him away from the locket, but if he honestly wants to leave…I don't know if we should stop him. He's got a family still, one that is still fighting the war and we shouldn't try to keep him away from that if it's what he wants."

Hermione took his arms and made him face her, her eyes seemed misty to him but he was desperately trying to avoid eye contact anyway right now. "You know we're struggling with just the three of us, and I know you enough to know you can see how hard it will be if it's just us two…we can't let Ron leave Harry…we just can't."

Harry shook his head, "Its not going to be up to us, but up to him. We're not underage school kids anymore Hermione, we're growing up and Ron needs to be able to make his own decisions and learn to deal with the consequences of them. I only have one thing to ask you Hermione." His tone seemed to have made Hermione widen her eyes; she nodded and said "Anything."

"If Ron were to leave…what would you do?" the pure vulnerability in his voice shocked both of them, he was desperate to know whether or not he would need to plan to fly solo…there's no way Zane would stay if both of his closest friends showed that they couldn't even have faith in him…

Hermione had been close to crying for awhile now, and this question seemed to be the last straw. She shook her head and glared at him with teary eyes, "How could you ask that Harry? Do you honestly think I would abandon you to all of this just because Ron left? Your both my friends…but Harry…you're family, you're as close to a brother as I'll ever have, I could never leave you alone out here."

Harry was more touched by this than he would ever feel comfortable admitting… "But that's the point though; Ron's…erm…not like a brother to you…so…"

Hermione looked highly confused before frowning deeply, "So? What does that have to do with…No; you can't be saying…you're kidding right? What on earth gave you that idea?"

Harry spluttered for a moment, "The whole Lavender thing! The bickering, I just assumed that **something** was going on behind the scenes there."

Hermione laughed, tears still falling down her cheeks, "Oh please, I was pissed at him for thinking that **I** could be jealous of him sucking face with someone who literally threw herself at him! I know he was trying to make me jealous, but all it did was make me angry that he thought I was that easy! The very thought that he figured he could snog someone else as a means to start snogging me was the most ludicrous plan I had ever come across! I've tried to tell him there's nothing there, but he's been so stubborn that all I can do is back away before I slap him silly! Have I really been giving off the vibe that I'm up for Lavender's seconds?"

Harry really had no idea what to say to this…it made sense…more than he could register at the moment. "So…why have you and him been having these bouts of alone time lately?"

Hermione snorted, "Because whether I can stand him or not he's with us here, and I still want him to be in the loop, have you noticed that when anything gets done lately it's because you and I are talking quietly? Well I later have to tell him everything we're doing."

Harry shook his head, wondering where the hell his headache had come from. "Are you telling me that you don't even like him?"

Hermione smiled faintly, "No Harry, he's a nice guy, and a friend to both of us. His personality and mine…just don't mesh very well. Your what holds this group together Harry, whether you like that or not. I'm not going to leave just because Ron does, he may be a friend of mine but Harry you will always be my **best** friend."

He was getting increasingly uncomfortable with how…emotional this conversation was going. He had never been one to talk about this so openly and Hermione throwing so many bombshells at him was making his head hurt.

"Thank you Hermione, you have no idea how much that means to me."

She grinned back, "Oh, I'm sure I have some inkling."

He smiled as well, thanking the stars that he could talk about something else now. "Could you go ahead and check on Zane, we don't need him getting the wrong impression from Ron storming out of the tent."

He could tell that she knew he was changing the subject, and distracting her, but he mentally sighed in relief when she nodded and said she'd be back soon. The day just wasn't holding back punches…and…_tempus_…barely noon_. Could the day be any slower?_ It would be a blessing if he could just get through the rest of the day without there being any more surprises.

Just as he sat down on his cot and got himself settled for that much-needed nap, Hermione ran back into the tent looking like Voldemort himself had come to kill them. "Harry, I need your help, Zane…his tent…he's on the floor and I really don't think he decided to just take a kip in the middle of his floor, he's even convulsing!"

With a barely audible groan and quickly following Hermione out the tent flap, his next thought was simply, _What now?_

**Another chapter completed! And while it may look like I left you all hanging on Zane's accident, be assured, that's exactly what I did. Also, this chapter held surprises for all of us, I wasn't expecting the conversation between the trio to blossom into an argument and after I wrote it I had to read over it several times, I couldn't believe that it actually flowed correctly. Still, it's there, and I hope you all enjoyed it! All four of you.**


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